Swery – The Gaming News Corner

Swery has unfortunately not made his goal on Fig for The Good Life. The game was able to reach 45% of its goal of $1.5 million but that isn’t stopping Swery. He has now moved his game to Kickstarter. He states how his statements in regards to The Good Life caused a lot of confusion for people. Many fans were confused on what the game was about. Based on concept trailers and bundles, many supporters were confused by The Good Life story and the overall gameplay.

Hoping for a second chance on Kickstarter has brought more attention to the game but also disapproval as well. Fans aren’t as supportive because Swery‘s previous game, D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die, never finished. The reason D4 never finished because he fell ill during production with Access Games and left the project. Since the ownership rights belong to Microsoft, Swery was never able to finish his game leaving fans unhappy. For Kickstarters, initial marketing efforts are extremely important. Although Swery is an infamous game developer, his fanbase isn’t as large. His games have always struggled to reach high sales numbers. Luckily, Swery has learned his lesson and seeks to lower the funding goal of The Good Life on Kickstarter. Swery is trying to rework his message and is still adamant on funding The Good Life. Many Kickstarters have failed to reach expectations of audience demands such as Mighty Number 9, Ouya, and Star Citizens and but lowering the funding goal and Swery’s honest ambitions make me hopeful for his game to succeed.

Swery’s Twitter

Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro refuses to back down despite his low support on crowdfunding his new Cat RPG: The Good Life. The game is planned to be a combination of murder mystery, pet simulator and role-playing game. The project currently sits at 19% of its crowdfunding goal on Fig. Their set goal is $1,500,000. As of October 3rd, 2017 they stand at$293,017 with 8 days remaining.

“Originally and even now I have been concerned, of course,” Swery said about the project’s struggle to bring in backers when Polygon spoke with him during TGS “I’m not going to give up, though. There’s no way. I’m going all the way through to the end.”

This is Swery’s first project with his new studio: White Owl. It involves a story revolving around a New York-based photographer, Naomi, who moves to an English village regarding a murder. Your investigation earns you money. Depending on how much money you earn, you’ll be treated differently by the NPC’s. Also, the townspeople and yourself turn into cats or dogs at night and nobody knows why. Its known in the game as “This is the happiest town in the world.” and “We’re the happiest people on the planet.” (I would love to be a dog or a cat tbh)

The game is being crowdfunded through Fig which is considered a controversial crowdfunding site. Unlike Kickstarter, investments in the game development give you Fig Game Shares; meaning you will earn a profit depending on how much the game sells. However, the game must sell at least 2 million units at a $60 to earn any money back. Investors are not guaranteed any funds unless the game earns a unspecific amount of revenue. The investments are not secured by SEC (Securities And Exchange Commission) meaning they aren’t legal investments and have to be reviewed by the government before receiving any money back. The SEC’s primary function is to oversee organizations and individuals in the securities markets, including securities exchanges, brokerage firms, dealers, investment advisors and various investment funds. Through established securities rules and regulations, the SEC promotes disclosure and sharing of market-related information, fair dealing and protection against fraud.

The site is backed by Fig’s advisory board, which includes Double Fine head Tim Schaefer and Obsidian Entertainment co-founder Feargus Urquhart.

Swery has stated that “The guys at Fig did something really nice, in that they only choose something that has been very exclusively selected,” he said. “Only high-quality people are chosen to be able to fund and be part of the project.”

Crowdfunding ends on October 12th.

Opinion:

There is no way this game is gonna reach its goals. Although his games are cult-classics, they never sell well enough to warrant sequels or reach a wide audience. A goal of $1,500,000 is absurd for any game that he has produced. Even on Ps3 and Xbox 360, Deadly Premonition made less than half a million dollars globally. He even admits that the game had no “economic success.” To even put it on Fig, a site which most people have not heard of or disapprove of their style of funding makes Swery’s goal even less probable. It also doesn’t help that The Good Life looks ugly graphically. Swery’s games have never looked graphically impressive but to ask for $1.5 million for something like that is ridiculous.